Carjacked Ferndale car used in Hazel Park robbery, police say

Hazel Park police Friday afternoon arrested a man driving a Subaru carjacked in Ferndale after they say he tried to rob a restaurant, fled from police and crashed in Detroit.

Police in both cities are working to determine whether the suspected robber is the same man who carjacked the vehicle he was driving.

Hazel Park police said the man implied he had a gun and tried to rob a cashier about 1:15 p.m. at Hardee’s, 23240 John R.

“The girl working the register panicked and froze,” said Hazel Park police Sgt. John Colley. “The suspect got spooked and ran out without getting any money.”

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The suspected robber fled from police and crashed into a parked car near Seven Mile and Conant in Detroit.

Ferndale police since Thursday have been looking for a carjacker who stole a resident’s vehicle after unsuccessfully trying to carjack three other vehicles within a three-block area in less than an hour.

A Ferndale man was with his teenage son in a Subaru Impreza in their driveway in the 700 block of Wordsworth about 10:30 p.m. Thursday when the carjacker stole the vehicle, police said.

“The victim had just pulled in the driveway when the carjacker approached him, stuck something hard against the victim’s chest and demanded his car keys,” said Ferndale Police Lt. William Wilson. “The victim complied and yelled for his son to go in the house.”

The carjacker drove off, heading west on Wordsworth toward Hilton.

The carjacker is described as black, 25 to 30 years old, clean shaven, with balding or very short hair. He was wearing a hooded jacket or sweatshirt and carrying a light brown satchel.

The carjacker spent an active night in Ferndale.

At 9:11 p.m. he was driving a Chevy Malibu when he was involved in a hit-and-run accident in the 500 block of Academy. He abandoned the Malibu, which was carjacked from its owner Tuesday in Detroit, and fled on foot, police said.

As police responded to the hit-and-run accident, dispatchers at the police station began receiving a series of calls about attempted carjackings in the area.

At 9:44 p.m., two men were sitting in a car on Silman Street in front of their house when the unknown man opened the driver’s door and tried to pull the driver out of the vehicle. The driver pushed the assailant away, drove off and called police, Wilson said.

A short time later, the man showed up in the parking lot at the State Fair Market, 726 Hilton, and unsuccessfully tried to force a motorist from his Chevy Trailblazer. The man held the carjacker off.

The carjacker then unsuccessfully tried to steal another man’s car in the market parking lot.

“The suspect demanded the car from the owner and hit the owner in the head with a something in a brown paper bag,” Wilson said. “The victim heard the sound of glass breaking. He suffered some injuries and was bleeding when the suspect fled on foot.”

Several minutes later the unknown suspect carjacked the Subaru a couple blocks away.

Anyone with information is asked to call Ferndale Police at 248-541-3650.